When I was a short-order cook while studying at University, we did a lot of food prep. It saved us time so that the orders could go out in as little time as possible. Neon Noodles takes the idea of food automation and gives it some futuristic AI flavor. While there are some annoying aspects, I am enjoying solving its puzzles.
Building automated food systems
Neon Noodles is all about completing food puzzles using automation. You’re given a food item, like Fish and Chips, and you need to set up a process so that a robot can prepare and serve it. You’re responsible for setting up the entire process. You’ll need to cut and fry the potatoes for the chips. Then, you need to prepare the fish, add the necessary beer and flour to create the batter. Then, after frying the fish, you put it together with the chips to complete the dish.
The puzzle is in setting up the workstation(s) and building the ‘track’ for your robot cook(s) to perform the dish(es). Levels give you the items and stations, but it’s up to you to decide how to proceed. Do you line up everything in a nice order? Or, do you separate stations and let one robot be responsible for each station?
There is no singular way to complete a level. It doesn’t matter how you get the job done. In the dishes I’ve done so far, I’ve relied on a single robot to complete all the tasks. You can use more if you want, but the game doesn’t reward or punish you. Efficiency isn’t important. The game only cares that the dish gets served and that you create a proper loop.
Controls that take time to familiarize with
Since each level requires automation, the key is giving the instructions. While I was enjoying the process of setting up my kitchen workspace, setting up the path wasn’t fun. Part of the problem is that I found the controls with a controller to be unintuitive.
Commands on the controller don’t follow the ‘standard’ controller layout. I’m used to using bumpers as cursors. But here, the right analog stick does that. Hitting the B button (on an Xbox Controller) is usually the command to cancel. Here, that doesn’t do that. Instead, the left bumper deletes things. The A button doesn’t input commands. To record your robot’s actions, it’s all done with the left analog stick.
Trying to set instructions for two or more robots was also annoying. Rather than juggling between two robots, I decided to use one. Yes, my command line was long, but at least I knew I wouldn’t have two robots bump into each other. I suspect that if you played the original game on PC, there is an option to use mouse-and-keyboard. It feels like that’s the better way to input commands and make edits.
Here for the puzzles, not the story
While it seems like there is a story, I didn’t pay too much attention to it. I guess our character was the one who devised this automated system, but we may have lost our memory. I’m not far enough to share more. In any case, I’m not that interested in it to pay much attention.
I do wish there were ways to see other players’ levels. It would be nice if there were feedback after finishing a level. After you complete a task, you get some charts showing data. But, since there is no scoring here, it doesn’t matter. Even without scoring, I’d love to know if I took too many steps. If I could see what other people did to complete their stage, then I could see where I could improve.
Because you can go back and try a level again, I suspect they didn’t want to show you a ‘best version’. Rather than showing players the easiest/best way to complete a level, they want you to try it again yourself. But, because there is no incentive to repeat a task, I have no reason to.
Fun for a bit
In all, for the couple of hours I spent fooling around with Neon Noodles, it was fun. I did enjoy the first dozen or so levels, and there are plenty of challenging food orders to complete early on. Once I got used to the controls, I was able to complete tasks at a faster rate. But, as you progress, the challenge increases, so you won’t be able to breeze through each level. This won’t be for everyone, but those who enjoy building schematics will find some enjoyment here.
